EPA: No New Ag Dust Rules. Noem: Waaaaaaah!

Last updated on 2011.10.21

If I've told you once, Kristi, I've told you a thousand times....

If Congresswoman Kristi Noem really believed that the Environmental Protection Agency was going to tighten its regulations on particulate matter, she could have just asked EPA boss Lisa Jackson for confirmation. Jackson would have replied the way she did last Friday to Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow:

Thank you for your inquiry on the status of EPA's Review of the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter....

It is important that a standard for particulate matter be protective of the health of the public. Based on my consideration of the scientific record, analysis provided by EPA scientists, and advice from the Clean Air Science Advisory Council, I am prepared to propose the retention—with no revision—of the current PM10 standard and form when it is sent to OMB for interagency review [Lisa Jackson, EPA administrator, letter to Senator Debbie Stabenow, 2011.10.14].

In other words, the EPA is not going to impose stricter dust regulations on farmers. At a Politico energy policy briefing on Friday, Jackson called such purported farm-hobbling dust regulations a myth. Farmers Union president Roger Johnson called claims of coming dust regulation "misinformation." Even before Jackson's latest statements (which only repeat what she and USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack have been saying for months), Senator Tim Johnson called Rep. Noem's proposed legislation to block these imaginary regulations "ridiculous."

The EPA's assurances have finally made Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns admit that legislation to block the EPA's mythical dust regulations is not necessary.

So Congresswoman Kristi Noem ought to be satisfied, right?

EPA's announcement does nothing to change the fact that they are still able to regulate farm dust. If the EPA has no intention of regulating farm dust then they should support my legislation, which excludes farm dust managed at the state or local level from federal regulatory standards....

EPA's announcement to keep the current standard in place is welcome news but it does not give farmers and ranchers the certainty they need moving forward [Rep. Kristi Noem, press release, 2011.10.17].

Congresswoman Noem certainly isn't moving forward. She's just had her only specific policy initiative knocked out from under her. Her concerns are unfounded, her bill unnecessary. She should be thanking the EPA for putting her fears to rest. She should be telling farmers, "Whew! I was wrong! We can all stop worrying and get back to discussing real issues." Instead, she just keeps cussing Washington and crying, "My bill! My bill!"

Congresswoman Noem, your blindness to the facts about dust regulations and you beyond-stubborn adherence to your useless legislation embarrass South Dakota. For the good of your state, please turn to real issues.

p.s.: According to the EPA, the new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule under the Clean Air Act will prevent up to 22 premature deaths each year in South Dakota and produce annual health benefits worth $72 million to $180 million. Darned regulations.

Update 2011.10.20 05:27 MDT: Ignoring facts, living in a reality of her own choosing... maybe Noem really is suffering from what Dr. Newquist would call a folie à plusieurs, a Shared Paranoid Disorder:

The dust-and-fart legislation proposed by Thune and Noem appeals strongly to that segment of society that defines social cohesion by the threats it imagines pose dangers to it. It is aware of the deep social and political tensions that it creates and must have scapegoats to blame for them [David Newquist, "Hanging America's Brain-Laundry out to Dry," Northern Valley Beacon, 2011.10.16].

Update 2011.10.21 10:50 MDT: That Sioux Falls paper's editorial board agrees: Rep. Noem should give her "phantom issue" a rest. So does Philip Gruenwald of the NWMissourian.